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US 7,466,185 B2Granted
IGBT-Driver circuit for desaturated turn-off with high desaturation level
AssigneeInfineon Technologies AG
InventorReinhold Bayerer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A driver circuit comprising an insulated gate bipolar transistor having a collector coupled to a voltage supply, an emitter coupled to a source of reference potential, and a gate configured to receive a control signal from a driver circuit, and a desaturation circuit conductively coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the insulated gate bipolar transistor to desaturate the insulated gate. The desaturation circuit includes a series coupled bias voltage source, uni-directionally conducting element and switch.
Claims16
A driver circuit comprising:
- an insulated gate bipolar transistor having a collector coupled to a voltage supply, an emitter coupled to a source of reference potential, and a gate configured to receive a control signal from a driver circuit, wherein the voltage supply comprises a capacitor and a zener diode coupled in parallel;
- and
- a desaturation circuit conductively coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the insulated gate bipolar transistor to desaturate the insulated gate, the desaturation circuit including a series coupled bias voltage source, uni-directionally conducting element, and a switch, wherein the switch is coupled between the insulated gate and the bias voltage source.
A half-bridge circuit, comprising:
- a high-side IGBT connected between an input voltage and a first node, and a low-side IGBT connected between the first node and a reference voltage, the high-side IGBT having a high-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the high-side IGBT, the low-side IGBT having a low-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the low-side IGBT, wherein the high-side IGBT and the low-side IGBT are configured to switch between a conducting state and a blocking state and each of the high-side desaturation circuit and the low-side desaturation circuit includes a series coupled bias voltage source, uni-directionally conducting element, and a switch, wherein the switch is coupled between the insulated gate and the bias voltage source.
A three-phase inverter circuit, comprising:
- a first switching module including a first high-side IGBT connected between an input voltage and a first node, and a first low-side IGBT connected between the first node and a reference voltage, the first high-side IGBT having a first high-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the first high-side IGBT, and the first low-side IGBT having a first low-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the first low-side IGBT;
- a second switching module including a second high-side IGBT connected between the input voltage and a second node, and a second low-side IGBT connected between the second node and the reference voltage, the second high-side IGBT having a second high-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the second high-side IGBT, and the second low-side IGBT having a second low-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the second low-side IGBT;
- and
- a third switching module including a third high-side IGBT connected between the input voltage and a third node, and a third low-side IGBT connected between the third node and the reference voltage, the third high-side IGBT having a third high-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the third high-side IGBT, and the third low-side IGBT having a third low-side desaturation circuit electrically coupled between an insulated gate and a collector of the third low-side IGBT;
- wherein the IGBTs are switched to generate a first AC voltage between the first and second nodes, a second AC voltage between the second and third nodes, and a third AC voltage between the third and first nodes;
- wherein each of first, second, third high-side desaturation circuit and the first, second, third low-side desaturation circuit includes a series coupled bias voltage source, uni-directionally conducting element and a switch;
- and
- wherein the switch is coupled between the insulated gate and the bias voltage source.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.